How to remove a blue ink tattoo

Written by melissa martinez

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The blue in this tattoo can be removed permanantly (Tattoo man image by MAXFX from Fotolia.com)

Blue is a popular colour for tattoos. The blue in a tattoo can come in many different shades ranging from a midnight blue that looks almost black to a lighter sky blue. The lighter blues are achieved by mixing darker ink with white ink. No matter which shade of blue you choose for a tattoo, none of them have to be permanent. There are new techniques to remove blue tattoos and not all of them involve lasers. Depending on the size and shade of blue, you may have lots of removal options.

Skill level:

Easy

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Instructions

1

Make an appointment with a dermatologist. Show him your tattoo and discuss options to help you, such as dermabrasion (rubbing of the skin with some type of sanding disc or wand), salabrasion (salt soaking), or scarification (removal with acid). Whether one of these is right for you depends on size, location on your body and colours of the tattoo. Depending on how light or dark the shade of blue on your tattoo is, these may not be the best option for blue ink removal.

2

Make an appointment for a consultation at a clinic that has a tattoo removal specialist. This kind of specialist can discuss other options such as camouflaging, laser or surgical removal. Laser removal can take six to 12 sessions depending on how big and how dark or light the blue is on your tattoo. Camouflauging involves injecting pigments into the tattoo site to either form a new blue tattoo or mask the blue altogether, making it invisible. Surgical removal involves cutting the tattoo out and using either stitches or skin grafts to cover up the wound. This is a last resort if the other methods fail.

3

Visit your local drugstore and ask an employee about over-the-counter tattoo removal kits. There are several out on the market now, though they generally only work on small, single-coloured tattoos. If you have multiple shades of blue or other colours besides blue in your tattoo, these kits may not work.

4

Decide on which procedure works best for you. Considerations include overall cost, discomfort and whether you will need to miss work as may be the case in the more painful laser or surgical procedures.

Tips and warnings

If your tattoo contains more than just blue ink, more than one method may be employed in order to remove each individual colour. This is especially true of tattoos that have both dark and light colours in them, as dark colours are easier to remove than light ones.

Laser treatments can be very painful for some patients, so you may want to schedule appointments only for days off or after work, when you can go home and relax afterward. They may also cause redness and irritation that is visible to others. Even though they are painful, the good news is that modern-day lasers rarely leave scars or other marks permanently.